Markus Sieber is a German artist who records under the pseudonym Aukai. His first album offers a collection of ambient acoustic soundscapes and cinematic tone poems that were born of Markus’ desire to create music that could work in tandem with film, video, theatre and the visual arts. Most of the compositions on his debut album grew out of Markus’ love affair with the ronrocco, a plucked 10-string instrument from Argentina.
Together with his Mexican wife Angelika, Markus has circled the globe many times giving concerts for the project Mirabai Ceiba.
In 2018, Markus scored The Tale by Jennifer Fox, starring Laura Dern and Elizabeth Debicki, and recorded his second album Branches of Sun the same year, followed by the album Reminiscence in early 2019. In 2020 Markus released Game Trails, an album inspired by his encounters with places of pristine nature. This was followed by the encore EP Entretanto.
With eleven spellbinding musical meditations, Aukai’s new album, Apricity, immerses listeners in a cinematic, sonic landscape that unfolds like a romantic, watercolour dream. Markus’ exquisitely wrought but deliciously understated compositions are grounded in the delicate interplay of his acoustic guitars and the dulcet tones of the South American charango—a stringed instrument that Sieber has adopted and taken to new expressive heights. Subtle, chiaroscuro shadings of cello, violin and piano complete a canvas dappled with prismatic colors of contemporary classical and South American folk influences. Shimmering melodic passages emerge from swirling eddies of captivating sound like spectral glimpses into a parallel universe of ineffable beauty. Softly crooning vocals on two of the tracks (Dayal and Weavers) enhance the intimate mood of the music, beckoning us to a realm of stillness and serenity. The album was mixed and mastered by Martyn Heyne at Lichte Studios, Berlin, and features contributions from Anne Müller and Sita Ostheimer.
Markus Sieber est un artiste allemand qui enregistre sous le pseudonym ‘Aukai’. Son premier album présente une collection de paysages sonores ambients acoustiques et poèmes symphoniques cinématiques qui sont nés du désire de Markus de créer de la musique qui fonctionne en tandem avec film, vidéo, théâtre et arts visuels. La plupart de ses compositions sur son premier album se sont développées de l’amour de Markus pour le ronroco, un instrument d’Argentine à 10 cordes pincées.
Avec son épouse mexicaine, Angelika, Markus a fait le tour du monde plusieurs fois, faisant des concerts pour le projet Mirabai Ceiba. Ils sont actuellement au Colorado, où la plupart des projets d’Aukai de Sieber se sont réalisés, dans la solitude tranquille d’un hiver passé dans un chalet de montagne isolé.
En ce moment, Markus travaille sur la bande originale pour The Tale de Jennifer Fox, avec Laura Dern et Elizabeth Debicki, ainsi que l’enregistrement de son deuxième album studio.